Southern (NYSE:SO) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Southern (NYSE:SO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern updated its FY 2025 guidance to 4.200-4.300 EPS and its Q1 2025 guidance to 1.200-1.200 EPS.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SO traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $86.05. 1,740,490 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,887,083. Southern has a 52-week low of $65.99 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.80. The firm has a market cap of $94.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.